Archive for the ‘television’ category

Tentacled Alien Things…

March 3, 2012

– – Although he has a human visage, Alec Baldwin as seen in Hulu commercials is an extraterrestrial of an unknown alien species who together with other aliens harbors evil plans of world  decimation, planning to consume the brain matter of the entire Human race! 

The alien entity masquerading as Alec Baldwin possesses at least two lengthy green tentacles, each of which split at the end to form a tridactyl head.  They are generally kept hidden underneath his clothesSure, he’s evil…but this is the way that aliens roll, and besides, “evil” spelled backwards is “live!”

Mongrels!

March 1, 2012

– – Think The Muppets meet Family Guy, and you’ve got a starting idea of what the show Mongrels is like!  This British sitcom revolves around the lives of five anthropomorphic animals who hang around the back of a pub in London.  I’m an easy sell for the show as one of the main characters is Nelson, described as a likeable middle-class urban “metrosexual fox.”  Other regular characters include an Afghan hound, a borderline-retarded cat, a pigeon, and another sociopathic, foul-mouthed fox. The pilot of the show also included a suicidal chicken!

 Definitely not for the wee ones, the show features neutering, incontinence, cannibalism, and catnip overdoses!  The show was described as attempting to do for puppetry what American shows like The Simpsons have done for animation.  The show, which took five years to make, ran on the BBC for two seasons between 2010 and 2011, but sadly was not renewed for a third season due to poor viewing figures.  Episodes and clips of Mongrels may still be viewed on Hulu and YouTube,  and Nelson has a page on Facebook as well as another promoting him for Prime Minister…what a fox!  


Dueling Porkers…

February 29, 2012

– – Riding on the coattails of the popularity of Geico’s Maxwell the pig, Cici’s Pizza has unleashed near look-alike pigs seen speeding around in a blue van…and the kicker is, these pigs are advertising not insurance, but  (-gasp!) a Hog Fest promotion, which means a pizza with bacon, sausage, ham, and pepperoni!- –Oh the horror, the horror!

Things may get ugly in the Pig Wars from this point on, but you may count on Foxsylvania to give you an unflinching look at the atrocities  and keep you fully informed, for you deserve nothing less!

DirecTV’s “Grandson With A Dog Collar”

February 21, 2012

– – Some people regard this commercial as hilarious while others regard it as an ad full of stereotypes and prejudice.  It’s DirecTV’s “Don’t Have A Grandson With A Dog Collar” ad which like  others for the same company takes us through a chain of events sequence illustrating the consequences of making a bad or wrong decision.  In this one, it seems that if your cable is on the fritz, you get frustrated.  When you get frustrated, your daughter imitates.  When your daughter imitates, she gets thrown out of school.  When your daughter gets thrown out of school, she meets “undesirables” (-shown hanging out in a video game room, gasp!).  When she meets undesirables, your daughter ties the knot with undesirables.  And when your daughter ties the knot with undesirables, you get a grandson with a dog collar!  Don’t have a grandson with a dog collar, we are admonished…get rid of cable, and upgrade to DirecTV!

Now dog collars themselves are worn by a variety of different types, including actual canines as well as some goths, heavy metal fans, sado-masochists, and furries.  It’s a personal decision and a personal statement that doesn’t mean that the wearer is bound for a life of crime, or that social deviance is inherently bad.- – No, I don’t wear one, but I’m I’m fine with it if you do…and I can see how some people of alternative life styles might be offended by this commercial.

On the other hand, the expression on the face of the painfully straight grandfather as he sits at the end of the commercial  holding his dog-collar wearing grandson is priceless!  It’s a fish out of water scene that might be a scenario for a sitcom…

DirecTV’s “Stop Taking In Stray Animals!”

February 19, 2012

– – A series of DirecTV commercials shows us the consequences of making bad decisions in a chain of events fashion reminiscent of Laura Numeroff’s 1985 children’s classic,  If You Give A Mouse A Cookie.  It seems that if you pay too much for cable, you throw things.  If you throw things, people think that you have anger issues.  When people think that you have anger issues, your schedule clears up.  When your schedule clears up, you grow a scraggly beard.  When you grow a scraggly beard, you start taking in stray animals; and when you take in stray animals, you can’t stop taking in stray animals!  

In this half a minute gem, we are shown each step in this downwards spiral, winding up with our unfortunate man at home looking cheerfully demented with unkempt hair and beard, clad in his robe and slippers and surrounded by numerous stray dogs and cats and even a raccoon and opossum!   We are told that one may break out of this bleak cycle and stop taking in stray animals by getting rid of cable, and subscribing to DirecTV…

Aspects of this commercial are funny and I take it in the spirit in which it was intended, but the problems of animal collecting and hoarding are real as are the problems of homeless, neglected, and abused pets.  The commercial might also be criticized for potentially ridiculing those who have taken in stray animals, a practice which is far from objectionable if done responsibly and in full awareness and acceptance of the commitment involved…  

Geico’s Black Panther…

February 18, 2012

Geico continues to produce noteworthy commercials with a furry twist, one of their latest featuring a magnificent black panther doing duty as a money-saving home security system!   I certainly wouldn’t mess with him…trouble is, the couple employing the big feline’s services aren’t getting much sleep out of the deal, especially since the panther appears to be sizing the duo up, staring as cats do so uncannily well and licking his lips- -heck, they can’t even talk as the fearful woman “shushes” the guy! 

The point of the commercial is that Geico offers security that will save you money and doesn’t involve adopting a rescue panther, but cat people will enjoy seeing this black beauty, who as David Bowie sang so memorably, “…can stare for a thousand years.”

Street Luge Maxwell!

February 13, 2012

 – – Maxwell the Pig seems to be getting into extreme sports, and continues to be hamming it up and having the time of his life!  Geico’s original 2010 commercial turned the porker into a web sensation, and the last time we saw him he was flying down a zip-wire.  Now Maxwell’s trying out a street luge, and making it all look easy;  he catches up to a street-luging human, gives him a memorable “bro-nod,” warns him “Ahh…heads up!,” and then becomes airborne!   At no time does Maxwell lose his blue and white pinwheels or express anything but giddy delight as he “Weee’s” his way along in his quest for the ultimate thrill!

Yeti in Stride Gum Whitemint Commercial…

February 11, 2012

 – – With Stride gum packing long-lasting flavor, management has to take strong measures to get consumers to spit out their gum wad, take a new chew, and so grease the economic wheels.  They have devised ingenious ways of doing just that; past commercials have depicted rams butting customers, wrestlers squeezing the gum out of them, and German folk dancers slapping them chew-free.  Now, an even heavier hitter has been recruited; the legendary Yeti!

This isn’t your father’s abominable snowman, mind you, although he certainly is cool!  This Yeti enters a marketing meeting wearing a headband and earphones, and delivers a gut punch to one manager, physically forcing him to expel his gum.  A voiceover warns, “Spit it out.  Or Yeti will find you.”

Stride Whitemint gum is licensed by gold medalist snowboarder Shaun White, although I’d much rather meet the Yeti

Purebred Werewolves on “Being Human”

February 9, 2012

– – The moon is full as I write, and I’m mindful of how we’re conditioned to think of most werewolves as being, well, reluctant, and if anything tormented by their werewolf status in the Lon Chaney, Jr. tradition. Such werewolves were not born as such, and were “turned” or made into werewolves by the bite or sometimes even scratch of another werewolf.

Episode 204 of the innovative and engaging Being Human show presented us with beasts of a somewhat different variety, a brother and sister pair of purebred werewolves. Both of the parents of these twins were werewolves, and so they were born into the condition. The wolfy senses of such purebreds are heightened all of the time, not just before and during the full moon; indeed, the twins presented take wolfsbane as kind of a canine Xanax to take the edge off, whereas in most werewolf lore it acts as a poison or repellant for werewolves. Far from loathing their lycanthropy, these furry twins (Brynn and Conner) find it a consummation devoutly to be wished, so much so that they wish to turn to their lupine state whenever they wish, not just during the full moon.

The storyline gets more complicated in the series, with regular werewolf character Josh engaging in research to put an end to his lycanthropy whereas the twins who exult in it are interested in the research so as to enable werewolf conversions “on demand;” wouldn’t this be a kick! No doubt more interesting events lie ahead!

Dorito-Bribing Dog…

February 7, 2012

 – – As a member of a species sometimes referred to as “the feline canine,” I don’t take violence towards felines lightly, and always have divided loyalties on questions of cats and dogs.  Dog on cat violence assumed a more humorous bent, however, in the Super Bowl Doritos commercial in which a man discovers that his dog might be responsible for the disappearance of Fluffy, a missing cat.  The dog, deciding that he might be ratted out, decides to bribe his human witness with some Doritos, extending a hush note with spelling at least as good as half of that readily observable on the internet.  I’m sure it’s not the first time that bribes have bought silence…

The Doritos commercial was actually the number one rated ad for this year’s Super Bowl according to TIVo, and it featured Huff, a Great Dane hailing from Virginia Beach.  The consumer-created commercial which reportedly cost only $20 to produce won its originator a cool $1 million prize…Woof!